BCP Council has warned it is “almost inevitable” it will have to ask the government for emergency financial support if social care demands continue rising.
BCP Council is projecting a £27 million overspend this year, driven by increasing costs in adult and children’s social care.
Cllr Mike Cox, BCP Council’s cabinet member for finance, said: “We are in a very challenging financial position.
“We’re not trying to hide that. We’re being very open and transparent about it and we’re giving everybody the information that we have.
“We’re obviously calling on the government to fix this if they fund children’s services and adult social care correctly and fairly.
“At the moment, they’re not. Therefore, the taxpayers of BCP are suffering as a result.”
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Councillor Cox said if social care costs continue to rise, the council may have no choice but to request exceptional financial support from the government.
He said: “If those costs continue to increase at the current rate then that’s almost inevitable, no matter who’s in charge frankly.
“This is why we keep turning around and saying that the government have to act because these are national issues.
“They’re nothing to do with the local taxpayer.”
Exceptional financial support allows councils to borrow money or use capital receipts to cover day-to-day expenses, helping avoid a Section 114 notice.
Councils receiving this support often face external assurance reviews, improvement plans, and restrictions on selling community or heritage assets.
Cllr Cox said the council has repeatedly raised the issue with central government, particularly around the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).
He said: “What’s been happening over the last three or four years is that the amount of money that the government give us is just a fraction of what it costs to deliver these services.
“Every year we’ve been reporting increasing deficits on that fund, which we were told, we were instructed to keep off balance sheet.
“We weren’t allowed to provide funding to keep it lower.”
He explained that the accumulated debt now has to be paid in cash, placing further strain on council finances.
He said: “The government won’t give us the cash to do it, despite the fact they said they have instructions to spend it.
“And so every year that’s been going up and it’s getting to hundreds of millions of pounds at the moment.
“And forecast at the end of March 2028 to be 380 million pounds.”
Councillor Cox said the council has been vocal in trying to secure more funding.
He said: “We’ve been shouting, screaming, lobbying, whatever you want to call it.
“We’ve been doing it and we’ve got MPs writing to say that this needs to be sorted.”
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